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Andy Hunter
Andy Hunter has a strong and unique musical voice, whether expressed through his instrument or his writing and arranging. Born in Northern Michigan and musically raised on the music scenes of Cleveland, Shanghai and New York City, Hunter now resides primarily in Cologne, Germany where he performs regularly with the WDR Big Band featuring many of the top artists in jazz today.
Hunter has performed and toured around the world as a regular member of the Mingus Big Band (Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra), the Richard Bona Group, the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Jazz Orchestra, T.S. Monk’s 10-tet “Monk on Monk, and Cuban groups such as Ochún and La Tipica Novel. He has also recorded and performed with bands including Snarky Puppy, the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band, The Birdland Big Band, The FatCat Big Band, La Cumbiamba and Hector Martignon’s Banda Grande, and toured with the Dave Holland Big Band, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Robben Ford, and Ocho y Mas, backing up salsa singers Rubén Blades, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves, La India, Eddie Santiago and Frankie Negrón.
As an educator, Hunter has served on the jazz faculty of Tri-C College in Cleveland and Rutgers University in New Jersey, where his students have been winning prizes and recognition at multiple major festivals. He continues to give clinics and master classes all over the world.
(music samples and performance schedule available at www.hunterandy.com)
Awards
Winner, 1996 Downbeat Student Music Awards Jazz Composition Competition
Winner, 2002 International Trombone Association "Frank Rosolino Jazz
Trombone Competition"
Finalist, 2003 Thelonious Monk Competition
Winner, 2005 "Antti Rissanen International Trombone Competition," Finland
Winner, 2006 "ETW National Jazz Trombone Competition," Washington, DC
Gear
RATH custom trombone, England
Tags
Chuck Owen: Renderings
by Angelo Leonardi
Nato dalla collaborazione tra la WDR Big Band e Chuck Owen, Renderings conferma quest'ultimo ai vertici dell'orchestrazione mainstream contemporanea e l'orchestra tedesca l'autorevole e avvincente ensemble che sappiamo. L'idea del progetto nasce quando la splendida sassofonista della big band, Karolina Strassmayer, ha chiesto a Chuck di arrangiare una sua composizione, stimolando il bandleader a impegnarsi in un ampio lavoro con l'orchestra di Colonia. Impegni personali e circostanze varie (tra cui la pandemia) hanno ostacolato il progetto, che ...
read moreMarshall Gilkes and WDR Big Band: Life Songs
by Jack Bowers
Maryland-born trombonist Marshall Gilkes, who spends much of his time working in and around various jazz bases in North America, returns to his “second" home, Cologne, Germany, for Life Songs, his eighth album as leader and third with his former employer, Cologne's world-class WDR Big Band. Gilkes spent the years 2010-13 in the WDR trombone section, shortly before he and the ensemble released the widely praised albums Koln (Alternate Side, 2015) and Always Forward (Alternate Side, 2018). ...
read moreChuck Owen: Renderings
by Pierre Giroux
Renderings by Chuck Owen and The WDR Big Band is a remarkable jazz album that showcases the artist's mastery as a composer, arranger and bandleader. This release stands as a testament to Owen's innovative approach to jazz music blending traditional elements with modern influences to create a unique and captivating sonic experience. The album title is an apt description of the musical approach taken by Owen, as he focuses on the works by other composers along ...
read moreChuck Owen and the WDR Big Band: Renderings
by Jack Bowers
Anyone who uses YouTube to search for contemporary jazz must surely be familiar with Germany's blue-ribbon WDR Big Band, as it is abundantly represented at the site. Bearing that in mind, it may come as no surprise to those seekers (and others) that the WDR's latest recording, on which it is paired with the esteemed Florida-based composer and arranger Chuck Owen, offers another master class in big-band artistry, or how to make even the most arduous charts seem deceptively simple. ...
read moreViento Terral: Tunnel Visionaries
by Dan Bilawsky
Through the release of Eh' Neeky! (Self Produced, 2016), a modern-leaning, multinational Latin jazz collective made its debut. And with this sophomore release from the Cologne-based quintet comes a more formalized identity, a collection of finely-sculpted compositions, and tuneful and percussive improvisations. The strengths of trombonist Andy Hunter and pianist Thomas Böttcher (who evenly split compositional duties), electric bassist Juan Camilo Villa-Robles, conguero Sebastian Nikoll and timbalero Daniel Hahnfeld prove complementary across this eight-song, all-original program. The ...
read moreBob Mintzer: Soundscapes
by Richard J Salvucci
Well, what is your pleasure? Swinging charts? You have them. A tight big band? Yes, that certainly, and more. Terrific soloists? In abundance. A blend of genres that go from straight ahead to Latin to funk? That is all here too. The only thing absent, and all respect to Bob Mintzer, is excitement. To be honest, many contemporary big bands doing studio recordings have a similar issue. The level of musicianship is astronomical, but something is not there. You wonder ...
read moreBob Mintzer & WDR Big Band Cologne: Soundscapes
by Jack Bowers
Saxophonist Bob Mintzer, a New Yorker who left home long ago to see the world, is a professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and chief conductor of the world-class WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, with whom he has recorded Soundscapes, a luminous showcase for his singular talents as composer, arranger and soloist. As anyone who is familiar with Mintzer--through big-band recordings, his quartet the Yellowjackets or other avenues--clearly understands, he will ...
read moreTrombonist/Composer Andy Hunter Releases New CD "Think Like a Mountain"
Source:
Two for the Show Media
The new Andy Hunter album, Think Like a Mountain, will be released October 30th, 2012. The album features Alex Sipiagin on Trumpet, Jason Marshall on Baritone Saxophone, Dave Kikoski on Fender Rhodes, Boris Kozlov on Bass, and of course, the writing, arranging, and Trombone voice of Andy Hunter. About Andy Hunter: Andy Hunter is an exciting, bold musician deeply entrenched in the New York music scene. An experienced leader and highly in-demand side man, he performs around the world with ...
read more
-All About Jazz, SPOKE's 3rd album, (R)anthems review by Dan Bilawsky
“This is one of those rare gems that is worth putting on “loop” to play repeatedly. It is difficult to say which aspect of this CD is more impressive, the remarkable compositions or the impeccable playing and empathetic interplay. Either way, this is music making at its absolute highest level.”
–International Trombone Association Journal, Think Like a Mountain review by Richard Birk, 2014
Primary Instrument
Trombone
Credentials/Background
Tri-C College (2002-2004) Rutgers University (2010-2011)
Photos
Music
Knife's Edge
From: RenderingsBy Andy Hunter
